CASE STUDY
Corporate Culture

“This is a much more focused way to develop learning programs than what we once had. It used to be that we would run classes and people would sign up. Now we only run courses where there is a specific need within a specific timeframe.”
— Duane DeJager, TELUS

Winter 2005
By Ed Raymond

TELUS can trace its roots to the original wiring of telephone service across the western reaches of Canada 100 years ago.

Over the course of a century the company has gone through many changes, but perhaps none so dramatic as the decision a few years ago to expand beyond its traditional business to become a full service telecom provider, bringing phone, Internet, wireless and data services to the whole of Canada.

The change meant new opportunities for growth, but it would also require dramatic changes within the company to support the new business model and technologies.

The Challenge: Changing the Corporate Culture
In the summer of 2000, TELUS was a regional telecommunications company, with revenues based primarily on telephone service provided to the Western regions of Canada. The company saw the opportunity to expand nationally and into the rapidly growing markets for Internet, data and wireless communications.

However, this change in business focus would also require team members to develop new skills and knowledge. The company also recognized the need for a cultural change that would promote a more entrepreneurial, market-oriented spirit.

The Solution:
Focus on Values and Strategic Competencies
TELUS took a comprehensive approach to change that involved all team members from the CEO down. Working with e-learning vendor Skillsoft, the company developed an “e-Performance Model,” a four-stage management framework based around four key company values (see sidebar).

Within the e-Performance paradigm, training programs were focused on competencies that were classified as either “strategic” or “mission critical.” Strategic competencies were those that would allow the company to flourish in new markets. “Mission critical” competencies were related to operational and service excellence aspects in day-to-day operations. By limiting their learning activities to those that met these criteria, the company found that it could produce a higher level of results, with more impact on the business.

“This is a much more focused way to develop learning programs than what we once had,” said Duane DeJager, Manager of e-Learning in the Enterprise Learning group. “It used to be that we would run classes and people would sign up. Now we only run courses where there is a specific need within a specific timeframe.”
The skills are mapped to job roles and the values competencies are derived from the TELUS four core values. When a development opportunity is discovered, the employee is entered into a Training Path — a blended learning program built around a specific role that may involve activities such as classroom training, e-learning courses or job shadowing.

At the same time, the company looked for ways to refine existing processes to allow for cost-savings. These savings were then reinvested into areas that would drive growth. This had a dramatic effect on the training department, which at that time was based primarily around instructor-led training. Today, while ILT still accounts for a significant portion of the learning programs, an even greater portion of the offering is Web-based.

The Results:
250,000 Courses and Counting
TELUS measures their program in a number of ways, with course completion as a starting point. In three years they have had over 250,000 online courses completed. Because there are certain courses, such as ethics training, that are required for all team members, they expect a minimum of 50,000 course completions per year.

TELUS also collects student evaluations of courses. All courses, including vendor-provided and internally developed, are achieving positive satisfaction ratings from 75-80 percent of the team members.

In 2003 and 2004, TELUS won an ASTD Best Award, ranking seventh and sixth respectively out of the top 25 companies recognized for training worldwide. They were the only Canadian company recognized.
Internally, support for the program has never been stronger, from the CEO down. Today the company commits 2 percent of payroll to learning.
For more information visit www.skillsoft.com.

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